Torres Who ?

Has the Buck ($) just been stopped ?

This morning saw the news that many Liverpool fans have been concerned about ever since Torres's first prolific season in the Premier League. His stock has fallen slightly over the last two but they were also ravaged by injury and a very poor World Cup although his team won.Since the arrival of FSG (NESV) we have heard of their love of all things Arsenal and we all know the basis of Arsene Wengers approach is to run the club as a business, don't spend to much and if you have to sell, sell big and at the right time.

Is this the right time to sell Fernando Torres ? For me the answer is no. We are a club short on confidence and as Kenny has said dozens of times in the past few weeks it is a time for this club to stick together. The sale of Torres to a club struggling just like Liverpool especially during the middle of the season could have a huge detrimental affect on all parties. He is the tip of our attacking arrow, and despite his poor form in recent months, much of it down to the serious lack of support he was receiving, he is beginning to look like the player we all fell in love with.

If FSG are here to get LFC back to the top then selling one of our best players to one of our major rivals will not exactly endear themselves to the Anfield faithful. Not only that Torres replica shirts outsell every other player in the world so from a marketing perspective it makes even less sense to sell him now without a big name player(s) to replace him. With the hopefully imminent arrival of Suarez lets hope this isn't another case of being another what might have been season. How different would LFC's season been had Kenny been installed as manager from the start. The £10 million spent on Konchesky and Poulson plus the £9 or so million spent to pay off Fulham for Roy and his staff and the further £3.5+ million spent on paying him off with his P45 all of which could have been spent on players at the start of the season to fill the gapping holes that are still present in the team with only a few days left in this transfer window.

If reports are to be believed and FT's head has been turned by Chelsea, whom he single handedly destroyed during his period of poor form, we must play hardball. If he wants to go, let him but we must get what we deserve and the players to replace him before he is sold. Having £50 million + to spend is a bad position to be in when we are trying to buy players at a decent price ourselves.

This has been one of the most testing seasons for Liverpool FC and for Fernando Torres  in years but the supporters have stood with them, defending them both in the face of a biased media that would prefer LFC to just go away. We wont, and we never will. We are an entity one much greater than the sum of its parts, and one bigger than any player even Torres or Gerrard. Players have come and gone, thats football, the one positive thing a Liverpool supporter can take away from a player of Torres's kwality leaving Anfield is that the money we receive will not be going to service debt, it will be going to a man who has spent over a year travelling around England and Europe scouting the worlds top talents and we all know he has an eye for a player that up to LFC standard, something the previous manager certainly didn't.

Our style of play has improved dramatically under Kenny and Clarke, indeed the 31 pass goal against Wolves would be something Barcelona themselves would be proud of, it would seem we are finally on a train heading in the right direction, its up to Fernando Torres to say if he wants to stay on it or not. Whatever his decision is, it must be respected, thats who we are, that doesn't mean we have to like it..

Another side to this whole sorry story is that it could simply be an ultimatum and one that we have heard before from the Spanish Armada at LFC to ensure the owners put their hands in their pockets and buy players of the caliber Liverpool desperately needs, and the fans desire, if it isn't and its all about the money and a London address then he can take his dodgy knees and groin wherever the hell he wants ! ! !

Is Van The Man to make everything AA-Okay?

He may look like a Dutch Steve Bruce and at 59 years old he's hardly the man many would have envisaged as a successor to Roy Hodgson at Liverpool but there are whisperings coming Germany that he may have already been approached about replacing Woeful Woy.

In his first season with Bayern they won the Champions League and in his second they walked away with the Bundesliga but were this time beaten in the finals of the Champions League by Jose's Inter Milan. There is also a very modern feel to their style of play and a look through the team reads like a checklist of fashionable tactical apparatus. They play with overlapping full-backs (particularly Philipp Lahm on the right); a centre-back capable of stepping up into midfield (Martín Demichelis); ‘inside-out’ wingers (Robben and Franck Ribéry); and multi-faceted forwards (Müller and Olić)

There is nothing magic or particularly flamboyant about the way Bayern play and the manner in which they dominate games and not even particularly entertaining. They are just supremely fit, hard-working and very difficult to beat. Typical Germans, you might say.

The following might also suggest that he is ready for a new challenge since his hopes of becoming the Dutch national team coach for Euro 2012 took a bashing by the success of Bert Van Mar wijk in South Africa.

From http://www.bundesligatalk.com/van-gaal-explains-germany-world-cup-exit-announces-national-team-desire/1234

Van Gaal also spoke about his desire to become a national team coach after his contract expires with Bayern Munich, which will not be some thing Die Roten fans want to hear after all the success he has been bringing to the club.

“My contract ends next year and I am not going to sign a new one before then. I won’t sign in the autumn or in the winter. I want to be a national team coach. I should really quit Bayern now because now is the time when national team coaches are being appointed. Therefore, maybe I will extend my con tract here by one year until 2012 and then take over a coun try (after Euro 2012). I am going to be at the next World Cup. I think so. I hope so.”

He also doesn't mind selling off star players, when last November he suggested that Bayern sell one of their biggest assets in Bastien Schweinsteiger.

Van Gaal backs Schweinsteiger sale
21 Nov 2010
German Bundesliga

Bayern Munich head coach Louis van Gaal has suggested that his club should cash in on midfield general Bastian Schweinsteiger, rather than trying to persuade the Germany international to sign a new contract.

The 26-year-old is out of contract at the end of next season and a host of top European clubs are believed to be tracking Schweinsteiger, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea.

That has prompted van Gaal to call for Bayern to follow the example of his former club Ajax and sell up.

He told the German media: "I think that Bayern Munich is a business and if it is true that 30 million euros have been offered for him, then you cannot just ignore that kind of money.

"I would do it differently - my clubs have always listened to what I have said and my clubs have always earned a lot of money."


His methods come straight from the school of Ajax and further philosophies can be seen in the following few images.











































Extract from http://j.mp/


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It's all just a bit of history repeating

Everything in football is cyclical. In a few years when we are toasting Leeds winning the European Cup, marvelling at their meteoric rise back to the precipice of footballing glory many might ask the question how long does it take? The answer it would seem is 13 years and two months as thats when Roy Hodgson last found himself in a similar position as he is tonight but will he do the honourable thing or repeat history and be as "arrogant" as he ways back then ?

On the 21st of November 1998 Blackburn Rovers owner gave him the chance to resign honourably, but he refused to do so, leaving the club with no option but to sack him: "To Blackburn's honour, Jack Walker wanted me to resign, he wanted to still pay for the rest of my contract. He said, 'Why don't you resign? You've had enough, it's not working out.' I refused to do that, arrogant of course as I was in those days. I thought if they stuck with me I'd save them from relegation. I do think that the players were very much still with me, so I couldn't resign because that would be a suggestion that in some way I was doing something or something was happening which I didn't see to be the case or the truth. I gave him no choice but to sack me.."

Roy Hodgson
December 1998






Saturday, November 21, 1998 Published at 19:26 GMT

Hodgson quits as Rovers hit bottom

Blackburn have struggled since winning the Premiership title in 1995

Blackburn Rovers 0 Southampton 2
Roy Hodgson has parted company with Blackburn Rovers after the club hit rock bottom following a humiliating defeat at the hands of relegation rivals Southampton.

Hodgson wrote in his regular Saturday newspaper column only hours before the game: "The way a manager behaves in times of crisis can often be the decisive factor in determining whether a team pulls through or slides deeper into trouble."

Rovers fans will hope his decision to quit will not be the decisive factor leading to their relegation.

Two wins this season

The club, who won the championship only three years ago, have won only two Premiership games this season. Roy Hodgson has thrown the towel in.
Ironically, Hodgson had been touted as the next England manager and angry Blackburn fans were mockingly chanting "Hodgson for England" towards the end of game.

Hodgson failed to appear at the post-match press conference, and instead, chief executive John Williams announced that he had left the club.

A club statement said: "Following the run of recent poor results, Jack Walker and Roy Hodgson have agreed that Roy will be leaving the club.

"The club are disappointed at this outcome but feel the decision is inevitable and in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers."

Few would have expected Hodgson's Ewood Park career to end in such circumstances after he joined in a blaze of glory from Inter Milan in June 1997.

The former Switzerland coach had a CV which was the envy of most coaches and he was one of the hottest managerial properties in Europe.

He enhanced his reputation in his first season by leading Rovers into Europe.

He was even contacted by the German FA when they were searching for a successor to Berti Vogts.

Spending spree

Since the end of last season he spent £20m on strengthening his side, but instead of challenging for the top, he found his team battling against relegation.

It is expected that Hodgson's assistant Tony Parkes will be asked to take up the managerial reigns again until a successor is found.

The side's captain,Tim Sherwood, felt Hodgson had paid the price for the poor sequence of results.

Sherwood, who had his rows with Hodgson this season, said: "We had no inclination that this was going to happen.

"I think it's harsh to put sole blame on Roy Hodgson, but at the end of the day, results speak louder than words, and we have not been getting them.

"You have to respect Jack Walker's decision because the buck stops with the manager. It's Jack's club and Jack's money, and as a player and captain of this club, I respect whatever decision he makes."

New Item from 1998

ROY HODGSON was sensationally sacked last night after Blackburn Rovers had been dumped on the bottom of the Premiership.

The pounds 1million-a-year boss has presided over a run in which Rovers have taken just five out of 33 points and owner Jack Walker had had enough.

The news was announced by chief executive John Williams who read from a prepared statement.

He said: "The manager will not be coming up to speak to the press.

Following a meeting between Geoff Walker and Roy Hodgson, it has been agreed he will be leaving.

"The club is disappointed but the decision was inevitable and in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers."

Hodgson did not make himself available after seeing the 2-0 defeat by Southampton, their fellow strugglers.

And after the shocking loss, Rovers were booed off the field.

Hodgson, who was just a year into a three-year deal worth pounds 3million, came with an illustrious reputation.

He was highly thought of as Switzerland's national boss and came direct from a spell with Inter Milan.

In his first season, Rovers looked as if they might emulate Kenny Dalglish's achievements and win the championship.

But since the New Year results have been poor and despite a huge financial outlay, Hodgson has failed to stem the slump.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Football%3A+Blackburn+sack+boss+Hodgson.-a060651472

"I thought I was doing quite a good job there."
Roy Hodgson, on being sacked as Blackburn's Manager
http://www.pedwards.co.uk/mouth.htm


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